Steerable vehicles, particularly automobiles and the like, have traditionally employed a steering linkage to connect the steering gear mechanism to a pair of steerable wheel assemblies. While quite simple at first glance, there are a number of engineering problems, most of which are caused by movement of the wheel assemblies relative to the chassis, i.e., the steering movement, jounce and rebound, and chassis roll. The steering system, therefore, has to be designed to take into consideration bump steer effects, Acherman steering characteristics, roll steering effects and the steering linkage space requirement. Furthermore, it is desirable to have steering systems in which the steering characteristics, particularly steering ratio, may be changed with a minimum number of new parts.
In the case of vehicles having a rack and pinion steering gear mechanism, it was frequently necessary to change rack and pinion if one wished to change the steering ratio. Vehicles having a rack and pinion steering gear mechanism generally require the rack and pinion to be located between the steered wheels which frequently causes space and interference problems with the vehicle's engine.